While 312 cases of Ebola in the DRC hit, officials see positive signs



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Four new Ebola cases were reported today in the epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including one in a newly affected health zone, as a high-level group of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations (UN) visiting the region said that new steps have an impact on the response.

Respondents removed found safe

The DRC Ministry of Health told the Mayi Mai rebels of a village located between Beni and Butembo, one of the hot spots of the outbreak, kidnapped four members of the Ebola response . The police later found that the police were answering security questions, according to the latest news from the Ministry of Health.

Following a call for emergency services by the family of a deceased person in the community, the interveners, including three civil protection officers and an epidemiologist, were at the home of a patient. recently deceased to decontaminate the house and remove the body to prepare. it's for burial. After the rebels abducted the respondents, the security coordinators sent an alert to the police, who said the group was safe and sound.

Senior officials discover Beni

Security issues related to armed rebel groups and pockets of community resistance have resulted in several failures in the response to the epidemic, which is only 7 cases on the verge of becoming the largest epidemic Ebola never registered in the DRC. Given the tough challenges of the epidemic, health officials are visiting the DRC this week to hear from local officials and groups and see what else can be done.

Yesterday in Beni, the Minister of Health of the DRC Oly Ilunga Kalenga, MD; Governor of North Kivu Province; United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Pierre Lacroix; and WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus were part of the group that visited the emergency operations center and met with local security officials at the city's town hall.

In a statement issued today by the WHO and the UN, the groups said the new measures taken to overcome the challenges posed by the response had a positive impact, with a decrease in the number of new cases in the last two weeks, although the outbreak remains dangerous and unpredictable.

MONUSCO, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the DRC, has recently taken an active approach to the armed groups operating in North Kivu, resulting in a recent period of calm in Beni and around, although attacks continue in the surrounding villages. Since the beginning of the epidemic, MONUSCO has provided logistical support, offices, transport, communications and security.

Decades of conflict in North Kivu have resulted in misinformation and mistrust that has contributed to the reluctance of some residents to allow Ebola teams to vaccinate, search for contacts and have safe burials.

Increased community supervision

The groups stated that, under the leadership of the DRC Ministry of Health, WHO and its partners were using more community-based surveillance, in which community members were trained to seek contacts in the DRC. difficult access areas for foreigners.

According to the statement, WHO and UN officials also met with DRC Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala to share their observations and recommendations.

While the team was finishing its visit today, Lacroix on Twitter today welcomed the work of its colleagues from the DRC and its partner groups. But he also added that securing the area affected by the outbreak requires a team effort. "The message conveyed today is that the improvement of security in North Kivu is the responsibility of everyone: MONUSCO and the armed forces of the DRC, and communities must also be involved," he said. he declared.

Lacroix said partnerships and sustained long-term efforts would defeat armed groups.

Four new cases, newly affected health zone

The DRC has today reported 4 new cases, bringing the total to 312, and the number of deaths to still 191. One of the new cases is in Beni, two in the health zone of Kalunguta, located in an uncertain area , and another. in the health zone of Mutwanga, the first in this zone.

The DRC reported that the Mutwanga health zone was near Beni and that the Ebola patient had been contacted by a Beni person who had fled to Mutwanga after refusing vaccination. 39, have not followed the follow-up. The man, considered a high-risk contact, agreed to be transferred to an Ebola treatment center in Beni.

To date, 40 suspected cases are still under investigation, the DRC Ministry of Health said.

Yesterday, in its daily update, the DRC Ministry of Health provided detailed information on three new cases reported yesterday by WHO: 2 in Beni and 1 in Vuhovi, a newly affected health area located between Beni and Butembo.

See also:

Joint WHO / UN visit statement of 8 November

Jean-Pierre Lacroix Twitter account

November 8 update of the DRC

November 7 update of the DRC

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